Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, method and program that perform color conversion to keep a particular color of an image.
Description of the Related Art
Digital cameras have come into widespread use in recent years, and the number of occasions in which digital cameras are being used is increasing for many users, and the needs of users are becoming diversified. To respond to such diversifying needs, a method is available that generates an image in which only an impressive color is kept. According to the aforementioned method, a user is allowed to designate a desired color, and only the color designated by the user is kept as a chromatic color, and the other colors are changed to an achromatic color.
A method for easily generating the above described kind of image is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-211525. According to the technology disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-211525, a frame whose position and size can be set by a user is displayed on an electronic view finder screen, a designated color is determined based on color information included in the frame of the image being displayed on the electronic view finder, and colors other than the designated color that was determined are erased.
An image in which only a particular color is kept as a chromatic color can be easily generated by the technology disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-211525. However, even though generation of the image is easy, it is still necessary for the user to perform operations such as setting a frame, and a problem still remains in the respect that it is necessary for the user to perform a complicated operation.
Further, there is the problem that if there is an environmental change or the like after the user has confirmed the color to be kept at a certain time point, a process to keep the color desired by the user will not be correctly performed.